Tuesday, April 29, 2008

That's right family and friends we are finally back in PGN (the Guatemalan Court Process)! I received an email from our adoption agency this morning that said our case was resubmitted to the PGN on Friday the 25th of April. This was such wonderful news for us to hear since our case had been kicked out of PGN since October. Now we just pray that there will not be any more kick outs and that our case can move right along. Normal time in PGN lately has been about four (4) weeks and then about another four (4) weeks after that to get a new birth certificate with our last name, passport, second DNA test (to make sure that she is still the same baby we started with), and then an appointment with the US Embassy! Once our case is out of PGN, Madison is legally ours forever!!! Please pray with us that this process now moves smoothly with no more delays.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

We received some great news today. Meredith got an email from our adoption coordinator today which said that Madison's birth certificate problem has finally been corrected and that our lawyer has sent someone to go get it. She also said that our lawyer plans on resubmitting our case to PGN on Friday. We would like to thank everyone who has been praying for this with us.

As for an update on Jacob, he could be here by the end of the week (we just have a strong feeling that it will happen). We are just waiting for Meredith's water to break and for the contractions to start. Meredith's parents are currently making there way here now and should be here by tomorrow. Please pray for their safe travels.

Monday, April 21, 2008

It was exactly one year ago today that we first laid eyes on a picture of Madison. We signed with our adoption agency on April 21, 2007 and that day took home three pictures of three beautiful baby girls. We prayed over the pictures and realized that Madison was the one meant to be our daughter. We have been in love with her ever since. She could not be a better fit for our family. We had heavy hearts about what would happen to the other baby girls but I am happy to say that they too have found homes. We had the privilege to meet one of the families during our last trip to Guatemala and I have to say that their little girl is a perfect match for them and will be going home this week. Isn't it amazing how God knows just which child will be perfect for each family? Our adoption journey has been a very long journey but we know that Madison is worth the wait. We had hoped to have her home in time to welcome her little brother into this world but unfortunately that will not be the case. Especially since we have only a few more weeks until Jacob's due date (with the hopes that he arrives a little early). Instead of Madison being here to welcome Jacob home, Jacob will be here to welcome his big sister home. After a year of waiting we feel that it is definitely time for Madison to come home. We are asking for everyone to please pray her home. We would ask that you all specifically pray for the hearts of the City Hall officials be softened so that they will release her birth certificate. We have to have that birth certificate before our case will move forward again. We have been waiting for them to release it for several months now. It seems that the hold up could be something that is completely out of our control such as a battle between the City Hall and the Government agency.

We are also still waiting on Jacob's arrival but as soon as he is here we will be sure to let everyone know. We found out today that he is already measuring at 40 weeks and I still have 2 weeks to go before I will officially be 40 weeks. We ask that you keep the pregnancy in your prayers as well.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Ok, here is the latest news. As of last Thursday we are still waiting on City Hall to release the corrected version of Madison's original birth certificate. We found out that our attorney has evidently gotten frustrated with this situation as well and has hired someone to do nothing but to go City Hall each day to try to get the birth certificate. We also found out that there is a new agency forming called the National Registry of Persons. All Guatemalan citizens will have to register with this agency and be issued an ID card. We are not sure if this will cause a delay for us or not. Our attorney is hoping that he can get around this without it causing any delays. The City Halls are also fighting this new agency because of a power struggle as to who should have the right to issue ID cards. On April 21, we will have been in this adoption process for a full year. We understand that many countries can take several years for an adoption to be completed but traditionally Guatemala has not been one of those and for most cases is still not one of those countries. I believe that Madison is probably one of our attorney's oldest cases he is working on and that maybe he finally wants to speed things up as well. Please keep this entire process in your Prayers. We would love to see Madison home by this summer sometime.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Ok, we have finally found out the real reason for our delay so far. We found out that we are waiting for a signature but that it is a signature for Madison's original birth certificate. We found out that our attorney tried to get the corrected birth certificate last week but the Central Registry office did not have it ready. The new president of Guatemala has given the new Central Registry office the responsibility of handling all birth certificates. This is actually a good thing since there are several towns in Guatemala that will not release a birth certificate for whatever reason they can think of. These towns have delayed many families from being able to take their children home in a timely manner. We believe that this is also the reason we have been delayed. It has only been within the last month or so that the Central Registry has taken over the responsibility. They were supposed to be completely in control of all birth certificates as of this week which is hopeful for us. We are waiting for an update from our agency about whether or not our attorney was able to get the corrected copy of her birth certificate. We have to have the birth certificate before we can be re-entered into PGN. In the mean time we are still getting ready for Jacob. My mom and I have been shopping this week to get the last minute things we needed to bring him home. It is hard to believe that I only have 3 - 4 more weeks before my due date. I am also getting myself mentally ready to have a big baby. According to my doctor he is a big baby which seems to be pretty standard in my family and Wayne's as well. As I look at the pictures of Madison I try to imagine what Jacob looks like and can't wait to get to hold him for the first time. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and continue to pray that our adoption will start moving forward again.